News...

April 25, 2008

Hello to my fellow music friends!

First I want to send my condolences to my great friend Nick Martinelli, my webmaster and cohort in crime, and his lovely wife Lisa. The recently had some health related issues , and while they are well on their way to recovery, I want them to know how much myself and my family care about them!

 I am playing the Naperville Ribfest twice this year. First my solo band is supporting either REO Speedwagon or Ted Nugent on July 3rd 4th or 5th. Exact dates and times are TBA. I am also Playing lead guitar in the Paul Avers band  and we are supporting country music star Trace Adkins on July 6th. Times TBA. There should be something like 5000 people there and tons of great food and drink so you cannot miss this event! I am stoked to be able to have so much fun the week of July 4th!

Also in the works is my first custom guitar! I have been approached by a custom guitar maker out of Milwaukee Wisconsin to build the first T D Clark guitar. We are in the process of making my dream guitar and I am very excited to build a guitar to my exact specs!

I am also working on a multi state clinic tour  with several equipment companies that should happen in late Summer or early fall. I will keep you posted!

I am closing on 1000 songs sales, somewhere around 975, through I tunes! Thanks for downloading your favorite T D Clark tunes!

I am loading up on all acoustic duo shows with vocalist Chris Brow playing Potters Place in downtown Naperville, IL this Summer so check out the dates in my show calendar here on the site.

I have expanded the business to include 12 park districts that will be offering Group Guitar classes through my company T D Clark Prodcutions If you or anyone you know is a top notch guitaProductionsr and wants to earn a little extra money teaching contact me at tdclark@comcast.net.

And last but not least if you have not made me your friend on myspace please do so when you have a spare moment.

Cheers for now

T

March 16th, 2008

Hey everyone Happy St Patrick's Day! The day where everyone is Irish  whether they want to be or not LOL!

April 5th I will be playing a show at the End Zone in Aurora on  Farnsworth just south of I-88. Showtime 10 P M doors at 9. Cover to  be announced but expect about $7. This will be an official Snappy Wiener sanctioned event so all you Wiener fans come on out LOL!

It will be my first show with my new band which features Fed  Bartolomeo on Drums, Simon Farmery on Bass and Chris Brown on vocals. I have worked with Fred for a bit of time now so Simon and Chris are  the newest additions to the lineup. Hailing from Brighton England U  K , Simon brings his legendary bass skills honed in the bands PRIDE  and FURYON to the band as well as his total bad boy rocker persona!  Imagine Billy Sheehan meets Steve Harris and that there is Simon!

Hailing form good ole Naperville Illinois U. S. A we have Chris Brown  will be providing the vocals for a bit of something new. Chris is a  Pro Vocalist by trade playing with the Acapella group AC ROCK for the  past 10 years. He absolutely kills, so you must come out! We will be  doing about an hour of vocal cover tunes as well and the Clark  instrumentals and originals both vocal and instrumental. I want to send out a huge congratulations to Steve Underwood. Steve  played drums in my band for a couple years and played on several of  the songs on Next Big Adventure CD and now is out on tour with Stuck  Mojo! I couldn't be happier for him! He is a fantastic drummer and  really worked hard and over came many obstacles to finally hit the  big time! Good luck Steve!

I have new photos from NAMM 2008 up in the photo section so go check  them out.

There will be new lessons coming soon, just sit tight.

Thanks for your continued support with your I-tunes purchases! I have  now sold over 860 songs through I-tunes and can't thank you enough!

Cheers,
T.    : )

February 10th, 2008

I am going to try and do a day by day NAMM diary from memory so here goes.

I left for the airport at about 5 AM with Lothar and Jen Keller from Local rockers Sacred Dawn. We arrived, trudged through security and had a big coffee, which was sorely needed. It was freezin ass and I remember being excited to leave but tired and trying to organize what needed to be done upon arrival. I ended up in a row by myself so I practiced guitar for like 2 hours and even recorded a song with my Korg PX4. I flew Jet Blue which is killer because they have satellite TV and a screen in front of every seat.

The plane was full of NAMMers and we all got to partying and laughing and shit. I always enjoy the commeraderie of other musicians because we all have strange lives in comparison to our regular job counterparts.

Upon arrival at Long Beach airport I realized how much I miss California and how much I want to move there. Mountains, oceans great weather. it just kills.

I got to my room and checked in, proceeded to gather all my stuff together for the short walk to the show. I got the Nady booth in time to get a quick lunch and then straight to the jamming!

I was demoing the new Lightning Guitar and Amp pack and the Nady half stack and encore II wireless system. I did have fun though I was beat and the day hadn't even begun LOL.

I went to dinner with the whole Nady crew and then Mike and I went back to our room to get organized for that evenings events.
More in a minute...................

October 2007

Well where do I begin? LOL! -10/29/2007

Hello again to all my friends out there in web land! I am back from the dead. There is much to get to so lets get cracking.

All summer the production company Mind On Business has had their rappers recording songs here at Studio T and they are now putting on shows in Chicago. Definitely check them out. They have had comedians from Comedy Central hosting the events. The have shows every week and if you are into rap or just having a good time with some cool dudes go check them out.

I had a last minute show at The End Zone in Aurora October 5th where I was working in my new Bass Player Alex Juneau. We cranked it up and had a good time. Joining us on the bill was fellow Fox Valley guitar maniac Dave Byron. We ended the show by playing a ripping version of Medditeranean Sundance/Rio Ancho by Al DiMeola /Paco DeLucia. We threw down something fierce and this lead us to talking about doing some Latin fusion shows together. Stay tuned.

I had filmed a segment for the Rock and Roll Revolution cable access show hosted by Ken Hawk before I went to Spain this summer. It began airing on Channel 4 and 10 in Aurora/Naperville area in September and features an interview and 7 music videos of me playing songs from my newest CD Next Big Adventure. We are also putting it up on you-tube and my myspace page and right here on my main site so check it out.

I have a show with my acoustic duo, The Mister Moms, on November 10th at the Green Leaf Coffee house on Eola road in Aurora. The show starts at 7 and features the incredible Chris Brown on Vocals. We do a variety of modern and classic covers plus our own original songs in the pop genre. Get there early to get a seat.

I recently crossed the 450 down loaded song mark and want to thank everyone for continuing to support my music! It is so cool every month to see people from around the world down loading my songs. You guys rock!

Make sure to check out the David Shankle Groups new CD Hellborn featuring a stellar guitar solo trade off section from myself, Joe Stump, Michael Angelo and Dave Shankle, on the song the Voyage.

I have expanded my teaching business to include 4 more Park District group classes for a grand total of 5 offering a total 7 classes. These start up in the Winter, Spring and Summer sessions and continue through the Fall. I hope to add to that total in the coming months

I want to send a shout out to Jenny and Larry who were my seat mates on my flight from Phoenix to Chicago recently. They were super nice and we had great conversation. Good luck to you both.

July 2007

I am back! What up?

The concert on June 30th at The End Zone went great! We had a big turnout and played for almost 2 hours! The new band was killing! We sold a bunch of CD's and made a lot of new converts.

David Shankle's new CD Hellborn is out and features a song called The Voyage in which Shankle, Michael Angelo , Joe Stump and I trade off solo's! It is an intense track with some stellar guitar work!
Shankle is one of the best shred maniacs out there so this disc is a must have!

ASCAP is shoppping several songs from my catalog for a publishing deal. I was very excited when I was approached by the Nashville ASCAP office about their interest in shopping some of my new non-shred songs! We are waiting patiently for news and show know something by months end.

On July 27th I am recording a live jam for Ken Hawk's local cable (Channel 4) metal show in Naperville. I will perform several tracks live and then do an interview. It should kick ass as Ken is huge shred guitar fan.

I have added 2 new lessons to the lessons page! Go check them out.

Peace

T.

June 2007

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for being so patient with me. I thought having my inlaws here watching the kids would give me more time to do stuff but it just opened the doors for even more work.

The Noggin Network has expressed and interest in placing London Calls, Mary Love and Bed Time for Ana from my catalog in their series Beyond the break. London Calls was sung by the extremely talented Rchel Mazza and can be heard at www.myspace.com/rachelmazza . Mary love is a song I have licensed many times before from my Perspective CD and Bed Time is from my new CD Next Big Adventure. I have also had a meeting with ASCAP about help in getting a publishing deal and am looking at my options now.

I have a gig with my rock band at The End Zone on Farnsworth ave in Aurora, just south of Route 88 on June 30th. We will play a 90 mintue set with my usual guitar zaniness featuring trax from NBA as well as have some special guests come up and do some songs with us.

I will also be doing an interview and live jam on Chris Payne's Local Program on Q101. It will be in June or early July so check back for the exact date. He just called me the other day so we need to thresh out the details.

I will getting back to recording my Christmas CD hard core in 2 weeks. I had briefly started but got side tracked, no pun intended. It will be a mainly acoustic CD with crazy arrangements of traditional songs.

I am finishing a deal to get Next Big Adventure on i Tunes through CD Baby. My CD will be for sale at CD Baby as well. This should go down in the next month.

We are having a summer DVD sale! All instructional DVD's are $20 plus S+H for a limited time only. Get your copy of Heavy Metal Breakfast or Tales from Guitar Land now!

There are 2 new lessons up on the site now so all you shred heads go check those out.

Cheers

T.

April 2007

Welcome all! A big hello to you!

These past few weeks have been very interesting.

About 4 weeks ago I was contacted through my myspace page by one of the members of the band Night Ranger. Apparently one of their original guitar players, Jeff Watson, had left the band and they were searching for a replacement. I got the management info from the member who contacted me and subsequently spoke with their mangement. This took place over a 3 week span and during that time I was practicing every NR tune I could get my hands on. It was totally fun. I forgot how incredible those players were!

In the end the job was given to Reb Beach (Winger, Dokken, Whitesnake) but I received an E-mail from Brad Gillis ( who plays in NR but also replaced Rand Roads in Ozzy's band when Randy passed) which stated that he went to my myspace page and thought my playing was really good and was keeping me in mind for the future. Winger goes on tour in Europe in the late summer so hopefully I will get another shot when Reb leaves to do that. I was a bit dissappointed not to get the job but was honored just to be contacted. It was quite a thrill!

The Spring Break Sale is over! ( No crying now LOL) but we sold a bunch of DVD's and CD's and I want to thank everyone from around the world who supported me by buying my products!

Next Big Adventure reached number 9 in sales on the Hard Rock Chart and number 6 in sales on the Shred chart at www.guitar9.com for the week ending March 24th! Thanks so much to you all for making that happen!

www.tdclark.com is averaging over 2100 page loads a month and over 850 actual visitors (and climbing) who stop by and read an article check out videos clips or work on one of the free lessons here on the site.

I have been adding a new lesson or exercise every update and this is no different. Check out the new lesson on the lesson page.

I will have abundance of time starting this Friday when my in-laws arrive for two months so I will be doing more updates with tons more content.

T

News Flash 3/28/2007 Spring Break fever is here!

For a limited time only we are having a Big Sale at T. D. Clark.com. All instructional DVD's are being sold for $20 and all CD's for $10!( plus shipping and handling) That is a huge savings to the music lover in you! Go to the merchandise page here on the site and get your music or instructional fix today!

Check out the new Castles and Gnomes lesson on the lesson page, it is sure to keep your fingers busy!

March 2007

Hello world!

We have added a new stat counter here on the site and suddenly realize that we have thousands of people from over 20+ countries logging in and checking out the content. We haven't had a counter in years and figured we were getiing hits from all over, but when you see the numbers it is really cool. Feel free to log into the message board and say hello. We used to have a guest book, but the amount a spam it attracted made it impossible to keep.

I want to thank everyone who bought a CD or DVD last month! It was our best month so far! Expect new reviews shortly from all over the world!

I have been working with several artists in a producer/writer mode these past few months and we will be adding a page where you can check out some of my other song writing styles. While I love the shred and always will, I also enjoy writing a great song no matter what genre'.

Speaking of song writing, I am currently talking with a song supervisor about the license of some of my songs from my catalog for a cable TV series. I am also creating some songs for the show. We will see in the coming weeks what goes down. I will of course keep you updated.

I am trying to put together a clinic tour through Guitar Center. We have been working on a schedule together but the King Of The Blues contest co-ordinating is causing a bit of delay. Hopefully this will hammered out soon. I am chomping at the bit to get shredding!

This past weekend we had the band Embrace the Day in Studio T, recording their new as yet untitled CD coming out on Double Tap Records. They were rocking and slamming and it was a killer time! We also have Rapper JT coming in this week.

I am adding a new lesson for you all this month called Castles and Gnomes LOL! It is a combination drill of Arp and scale ideas with a bit of a classical theme, hence the name.

See you next month!

T.

Febuary 2007

Update 2/14/2007 Hey folks what it is?

In the newest installment of this is T. D.'s life we find our hero looking for a drummer. If you or anyone you know is a drummer and want to jam please mail me at tdclark@comcast.net I am trying out several guys already but want to look at as many guys as possible before I choose one.

The last weekend of February I am going to start recording my long awaited acoustic and Christmas CD's. The acoustic CD will have a variety of tracks from Arabian to Latin to Irish sounding influences. Lots of shredding but even more melody will abound on this CD. The Christmas CD will feature all your favorite Christmas songs in arrangments like you have never heard before. Funky Drummer Boy, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen in a slow Latin style. Definately stuff your favorite music lover's stocking with this one when it come out in November 2007.

I have a new exercise garraunteed to warp your fingers on the lesson page. It is called Skipping Stones and it caters to your inner shred Demon!

I am starting a new online lesson program where you the reader can E-mail me and I will custom write a lesson for you based on your topic. I am also offering lesson packets that cover the Basics. Intermediate 1,2, and Advanced 1, 2. Plus cover styles like Shred and Blues.
Each lesson will cost $45 and is packed with scales, modes chords exercises etc to augment your playing and get you top that next level.

Thanks again for your continued support. Next Big Adventure continues to sell like hot cakes!

See you next time

T.

January 2007

Update 1/24/2007 Hello my excellent friends!

NAMM show kicked some serious ass as usual! I arrived on Wednesday morning and met a friend of mine director Dave Payne for some lunch in Burbank. We talked about his new movie projects and about the films of his that I have songs in and how they are selling and etc. I then stopped in Universal City Walk for some shopping and a coffee and then on to West Hollywood where I met my friend Jeremy for dinner and some beverages. We then spoke with his friend about T-shirts (yes I know, could that take any longer? LOL).

Thursday I went down to Anaheim to set up my gear and promote my 2 days of demoing that were going to start Friday. I was showing a new 100 Watt half stack and Celestian loaded cabinet (the GAC 100) from Nady Systems. It was a hot amp! It has a cross between a Marshall and a Boogie lead tone which worked well with my playing style. I just used a bit of Tube Screamer to bring out the pinch harmonics and away we went.

Friday I started playing about 1 and ended up playing on and off all afternoon. It was great! I felt my playing was really sharp despite all the distractions. Steve Vai and Frank Gambale stopped by to watch me jam which was the highlight of my trip. Imagine looking up and seeing Vai watching you play. It was crazy! During one of my brief breaks I ended up at the Dean Markley Booth jamming with T. M. Stevens. That was nuts! He is the master of the funk and was really nice as well. One of my reps from the Nady Booth ran into T. M. later that day and asked how my playing was to which he replied "That guy was rippin!" Not a bad days work if I don't say so myself! LOL!

Saturday was just as crazy, playing and then running to talk to my reps. Riff Sorce, another in a long line of hot guitar players from Chicago, stopped by the Nady Booth to say hello and check out my show. I also was hanging with Dave "Shredder Extraordinaire" Shankle from Manowar/DSG. Chicago was representing at NAMM big time!

Saturday night was capped off by a visit to Disneyland, which was awesome, and a late dinner. Sunday I had a 3 hour delay so I took the time to have some breakfast, a cocktail or 2 and then began watching the Bears hand out a beat down to the Saints!. Jet Blue has direct TV on the plane so I finished watching the game as I flew home. There is nothing better than that!

As you can see the site has finally been finished and there are new interviews and lessons and info all over so check it out.

See you soon

T.

January 2007

Update 1/13/2007 Happy New Year All!

I had a blast playing a rippin show with fellow rockers RIVAL on New Years Eve! The crowd was totally going nuts the whole night and it made the bands just keep kickin it up a notch! The night ended with several jams with dudes from all the bands getting up and doing songs. I was especially torqued when I played The Trooper with some Gary and Nevin from Rival and Jeff from Cutlass! That kicked ass!

Next week NAMM zaniness begins! I will performing at the Nady Systems booth (# 4650 at the Annaheim convention center) on Friday January the 19th and Saturday the 20th. I will play at 1 and 4 both days demoing the new GTA 100 Watt guitar head and GAC 2 X12 and 4X12 cabinets! My set will consist of songs from my new CD Next Big Adventure (www.guitar9.com ) as well as some old favorites! You have to come out if you are going to the show! Chuck Billy from Testament will be there Saturday signing autographs between sets as will Jerry Only from the Misfits!

I started working with singer Kyle Michaels who did a CD with Geezer Butler from (Black Sabbath). We have demo'd a few tunes and they just smoke! I will have samples up shortly!

Keep checking it will have more news shortly!

T.

December 2006

12/12/2006 -Merry Christmas to everyone!

I am proud to say welcome to the new T. D. Clark. com! Nick has worked feverishly on this for months now to get the site completed and he is still workin it so a big thanks goes out to him!

I will be playing 3 shows coming up in December.

The first is a show with my acoustic band this Sunday morning, December 10, at Living Waters communtiy church 190 Lillycache lane at Route 53 in Bolingbrook. We will do 4 seperate shows between 8 and 11 and they will be a mix of Christmas songs and acoustic trax from my CD's. Admission is free.

The second show will be Saturday December 23rd at the Greenleaf coffee house 2400 south Eola road in Aurora IL. 60503. The show is an early one starting at 6 P. M. going til 8 P. M. and will feature modern arrangements of traditonal Christmas songs. This is also with my acoustic band. Admission is $4.

Later that night on December 23rd I will be hitting the stage with my rock band at 9:30 backing up Sacred Dawn at Legends, 701 west Lake street in Addison. (Formerly Rory's)

On November 22nd the movie Wedding Slashers was released on DVD for rental at Blockbuster and Netflicks and for sale at Best Buy, Circuit City etc and it features the song Mary Love from my Perspective CD.

All of my CD's are available on this site or at www.guitar9.com. and make great stocking stuffers! Speaking of guitar9, Next Big Adventure was in the top 5 in sales week ending 10-31 and has continued to sell like crazy!

My instructional DVD's are now available here on the site or at www.chopsfromhell.com

I have several columns and lessons up at www.shredacademy.com and at www.chopsfromhell.com and I have a ton of new lesson here on the site as well. Send me some mail on topics you would like covered at tdclark@comcast.net

October 2006

10/2/2006 - Happy Halloween!

The new site is close to completion. I have seen some of the pages and finally written some lessons and edited some text so we are getting closer. If you ant to hear new trax check out www.myspace.com/tdclark and if you want to buy my new CD or any of my CD's check out www.guitar9.com 

Speaking oF buying my CD, once again I have to say thanks to all of you who continue to buy my new CD Next Big Adventure. NBA ended the week of September 9th at number 2 in sales at guitar9 behind John Petrucci from Dream Theater in the Shred category

There is a brand new review of Next Big Adventure and interview with me  at www.musicstreetjournal.com! Go check it out!

I am now selling my instructional DVD's, In the Begining and Heavy Metal Breakfast, at www.chopsfromhell.com This is THE site for instructional guitar lessons on the web and I am very happy to be a part of it!

My concert at the Green Leaf Coffee house has moved to Saturday November 4th from 7 to 9 P. M.

Admission is $4. I will be doing a storytellers type of thing where I will play songs from  my new CD and then talk about how they were inspired by my travels around the world. It will be really cool!

I will play electric and acoustic tunes from my CD so expexct some shredding!